This day started out as any other day at work, then I noticed this terrible news on a web newscast. I am a student of scripture and spend much time in the Bible reading about our near future prophesy in the books of Daniel in the Old Testament and Revelation of Christ in the New Testament. Since the Bible is 100 percent true and is the inspired Word of God these Biblical Books are very important since we are closing in on much of the end time events. My thoughts on this 911 tragedy (and even a strong warning), were about what Scripture calls the "Tribulation Period" which will occur around the beginning of the 6000 year period following creation. The events described in this great tribulation affecting the whole world will make the 911 tragedy seem like a minor happening. Can a person prepare for these tragedies? Perhaps we can do physical things such as have emergency plans and supplies. But what about your spiritual plans? Many became very "religious" after 911 for a short period of time. However, religion is a man made belief system - sort of like "made in China." God has a plan that is not religious but a way of Truth. The only safe way of protecting our souls is to do the following:
Believe and place your trust in Christ Jesus-
1. Believe that He was/is the Son of God
2. Believe that He is perfect and did no sin
3. Believe that His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection was for the purpose of saving mankind by the shedding of His blood.
4. Believe that Christ's crucifixion and 2 days in the grave & Hell was for a substitute for any person willing to accept this true gift.
5. Believe that that you can have forgiveness of your sins upon accepting this gift and will have eternal life.
More information is available by studying the Bible

I got up and checked my stocks on my computer and something funny was going on with the Dow Jones. It had started, but trading was halted. I then went to Yahoo and on the news section was a matter of fact statement that the first tower had collapsed and the second was on fire. I didn't believe that and thought it was some kind of a misprint or a joke. But I still couldn't figure out why the stock market wasn't running. Finally, after sitting there for a while wondering what the heck was going on, I turned on the tv. Well, of course I saw the same thing as everyone else - watched countless times as footage replayed again and again of the towers collapsing. Finally, I thought it a good idea to get away from the depressing news and go for a walk. On the way, I passed an ATM and thought I should get as much money as possible out of it as I could.

I heard about the terrorist attacks on the Mancow radio program, in which Erich "Mancow" Muller, was screaming about the first plane hitting the World Trade Center, comparing it to the movie "The Towering Inferno!". As the morning progressed, I switched radio programs and heard about the other buildings in the World Trade Center being destroyed, the Pentagon being destroyed and the jet in Pennsylvania being destroyed.

It was spooky in a way. Just a couple of weeks before, I had read Stephen Coonts' new novel America, in which terrorists had hijacked a submarine and used it to attack Washington DC and the lower part of New York City.

I was driving into work that morning and heard on the radio "a plane hit the WTC building". Which I thought meant the one in Denver, which I was in the week before. I get to work and someone had found a small TV and we were all huddled around it watching as the 1st tower fell. I had this sick feeling and sat until the 2nd fell then had to get up. My whole family is from NYC and i had an immense feeling of loss at that moment. Luckily my bosses closed work and sent everyone home.. I went home and sat in shock for a few hours after that. I watched the news and with the reports of the Pentagon and the other plane made me about physically ill.

And to HLABSINC: go spew your fake religious rhetoric somewhere else. Your false god and fake scriptures are the reason for more death and misery then anything ever in the history of mankind. More innocent lives have been lost in the "name of god" then for any other reason. Once you realize that god and religion was created by man to justify death and destruction you'll be a better person for it.

Like everyone else I was at work and heard the first reports of a plane hitting the first tower on a sports talk show. The first report had very little detail to it. My first assumption was that it must have been a small single engine airplane. But that proved very soon to be not true. The rest of the day I just tried to follow the developments the best that I could through the radio and internet.

A couple things that I remember from that day which curiously didn't end up making it into our collective recollections of that day was all of the reports on the ground and from emergency responders of bombs going off and of the general suspision of secondary explosions. Also, I remember seeing the collapse of WTC7 later in the day, adding to the horror. I think a lot of people have either forgotten or weren't aware of the collapse of this building, which itself was over 50 stories tall.

There is a lot of reason to question what we've all been told since that day...

I was teaching programming in Lahore; watched it live with a bunch of local guys, all crowded round the TV. None of us could believe it. One of them, an old man, had been through Partition in 1948, and he was almost crying. None of them could comprehend how anyone calling himself a Muslim could do such a thing. One of the guys at work gave me an English translation of the Q'ran the next day; they were all really upset about it - called it a betrayal of their religion. I probably should keep politics out of this, but it's amazing how quickly the ineptitude of the 'war on terror' has dissolved the sympathy for America that all my Pakistani colleagues had. I still have the Q'ran though.

On September 11, I was surrounded by the one of the natural wonders of the world -- the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. I was hiking through ancient layers of earth on a five-day backpack trip with three of my closest friends.
On that disasterous day we stopped by a ranger station at Phantom Ranch and heard the news -- the name phantom took on new meaning to me.

I always consider myself one of the lucky one to have escaped the unending media reports and commentaries, Instead I was able to reflect on the injustices of the world even amid granduar as I hiked up the steep trail to the canyon ridge.

I was in high school - junior year. I had been housesitting for some friends, and walked to my mom and dad's house that morning before school to get a sweater. It was a chilly morning. I got home just after the 2nd plane hit.

I watched for a few minutes in stunned silence, then headed to my friend's house to get a ride. They were very strict in their religion - didn't watch tv, except on Saturdays, and no cable. I told them they might want to make an exception.

I went to school, and the day was a bizarre mix between teachers trying to maintain some semblance of 'normalcy' and go ahead with regular lesson plans, and other teachers turning on classroom televisions and watching with the rest of us, stunned.

After school, I spent the rest of the day glued to the television, still not fully believing what I was seeing.

I recall having that day off work and playing with my son in our backyard. My grandfather had flown out from Chicago (O'hare as someone mentioned) several days prior. I recall him coming to the patio door and telling me to bring my son and come in. I took my son up to his room, put on some disney music and let him play. I came to my Grandfather and asked him what was wrong. I saw tears in his eyes for the first time in my entire life. I also saw anger building. My grandfather is a quiet man with few words and I can't recall EVER seeing him angry until this day. He pointed to the TV and I thought it was a sick joke too! I sat down in disbelief and prayed for it to stop. We watched about 20 minutes of it and then we turned it off, I couldn't take it anymore. I don't have any immediate family members in NY but some distant members. I felt such a loss to my world. When they started talking numbers I couldn't believe it. I felt anger and sadness well up. I started to cry. I ran upstairs and got my 2 year old son and hugged him as though I would never let go.

This day will forever be in my mind. I have a picture taken the day before with my son and my grandfather. My grandfather is holding my son and they are smiling and laughing. The next day, our world changed.

Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of s***.

Climbing Mt. Whitney in California’s Sierra Nevada range is a goal of amateur and experienced mountaineer alike. It is not the highest mountain in the United States, that honor goes to Mt. McKinley aka Denali (elev. 20,320’) up in the northern part of this continent (unless you count the base of Mona Kea from the seafloor); but Mt Whitney is the highest point in the contiguous USA. At 14,497' it rises above all 54 of Colorado's 14ers. There is a non-technical trail winding 11 miles to the top gaining 6,000 feet of elevation from the Whitney Portal challenging any who think they have the legs and lungs for such a test. While most will spend several days working their way up to higher camps, some travel light and fast and do it as "the ultimate 22 mile day hike". The following is an account of my wife’s and my attempt of such a hike.
Short version: Up in 8 hours, enjoyed the top, down in 7 hrs, life is good.

Long version: My wife Mary had a goal to hike to the top of Mt. Whitney before her 50th birthday. I had a goal to support her in this dream to bring it into reality. Since this is an adventure shared by 2 people with slightly different experiences of the same events, her thoughts on the matter are recorded here as well to temper my embellishment of any of the facts.

Robert-
A key factor in this success was acclimating at Horseshoe Meadow campground (elev 10,000’) for 2 days spending the time producing red blood cells and doing some short hikes. We would be hiking under a waxing moon so it would not set behind the bulk of Whitney prior to the sunrise. To lessen the chance of tangling with afternoon thunderstorms (which are not uncommon as the moisture-laden Pacific air rises up the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada’s), we planned on summiting before noon which meant an alpine start.

Mary-
By alpine Robert means while the stars are brightly shining. We stayed at the Dow Villa the night before our climb. It was a nice and comfortable place for this anxious soul to get the needed sleep. Plus we would keep the ice chest, food and food looking stuff in our room and safely out of our parked car. Bear break-ins were happening daily at Whitney Portal. We awoke at 2:00 am, got ready, did the 20 minute drive to the Portal, and were on the trail a little after 3:00. I have never hiked by headlamp. All of that jabber about waxing moons was pretty much moot because wispy clouds veiled the moon for much of the time. When we hit the John Muir Wilderness boundary at 0.9 miles Robert said we were going at a 2 mph pace. Pace?? What pace? I was just running scared. There was a pair of headlamps up the trail on a distant hillside which gave me a general idea of where we were headed. They looked so far.
The clouds worried me a little. The stars were brighter closer to the mountain and I took that for a good sign. We could not control the clouds, all we could do was our best and pray that this trip was blessed. And if so, appreciate the beauty and wonder with all available senses. It was at this point, when I was actually in the flow of what I had been training for, that I knew I could make it barring any twist of fate.

Robert-
The weather was perfect for hiking. I had on a pair of shorts and long nylon wind pants over them. I also wore a poly-pro long sleeve top that had a hood (good thinking, if your arms are cold your ears probably are too). My headlamp was a Black Diamond Moonlite which is a nice lightweight white LED model (4 bulbs) having a positionable lamp housing and highest lumens/gram. Mary’s halogen Petzel Dou was on high beam which helped in my obstacle recognition efforts. I also carried a whistle in my pocket in case a bear should pop up around a switchback.
We crossed a wide, marshy creek balancing across the tops of hewn logs spread like a railroad cars across a mucky terrain I would not want all of my senses to experience. At the end of this we came upon a pair of headlamps named Lisa and Karen. We never saw them afterwards, hopefully things worked out ok for them. Shortly after this we reached a sign that said Lone Pine Lake. I was shocked that we got there in only 1.5 hrs. Things were looking good.

It was just before Mirror Lake where I heard some loud scratching noises. I knew that bears were large, dark, furry and did not wear headlamps. What I saw in the anemic beam of my headlamp was big (but not too large), dark, couldn’t tell about the furry part, but is WAS NOT wearing a headlamp. Still not getting a positive ID even when it rose to its hind legs I asked "Are you a bear?" In retrospect it was not the most intelligent question I could of asked but the "Don’t worry, I’m a person" gave me quite a relief. He continued to fold up his tent as we crossed the creek to Mirror Lake.

Mary-
We worked our way up a rocky trail while at about 5:45 PDT glorious red sunrise was playing out in the east. We were in our own world, oblivious to what was happening in the world. The ebbing tree line provided un-obstructed views of the silhouetted peaks below and then first orange light on Mt. Mallory. I felt as if I were half way to heaven. We reached the halfway point on our climb at Trail Camp after 4 hours of hiking and took a breakfast break. I must admit I was not over-impressed. We were greeted by a solar outhouse upon entering camp. The camp was barren, windswept and cold. It had the resemblance of a refugee camp, multi-colored nylon dwellings scattered about with crude stone walls separating neighbors. I put on my wind pants and jacket while Robert went to pump some water at the municipal watering hole. Although we finally had some sun, the chill wind chased away any heat it could offer. After only 1 cheese stick and 1 Powerbar, it was time to get moving, get warmed up.

Robert-
I could not eat much either. The air is thin at 12,000 feet, too thin to hold any heat. My finger-tips exposed from the finger-tipless fleece gloves quickly became un-coordinated, clumsily fumbling with water bottles and Powerbar wrappers. There were still broken clouds, mostly wisping through the peaks (not the dark, flat bellied variety). I was not sure what was on the blind side, and that had me a little concerned. We still had 2,500 feet more to go. The temperature drops 3 degrees F. for every 1000 feet of elevation gain. With this data I calculated it would be much colder at the top. (I was fighting back a headache and performing higher math for actual values may have sent me over the edge of that battle) This was the Rubicon. This is were we needed to ask ourselves if we had that internal reserve to push forward where average mortals would flee, to…

Mary-
Whoa. The embellishment meter is starting to rise. And perhaps you could loose every other sentence having (parenthesis) ?? Anyways, we made quick progress up the 2¼ mile long switch back section. There was a little bit of snowmelt trickle on the trail at 7:45 am but probably not worth the hassle to pump. This section of the trail is a true engineering marvel. Iron stakes, purchased by our government from lowest bid contractors, were drilled into the side of this mountain. Neatly on top of that were stacked tidy rows of granite blocks Martha Stewart would approve of.

There was a small amount of ice seeping from the inside edge at the cables, a 50 foot section of trail with steel poles with cables running through them chest high and shoulder high. We passed a contingent of team Kentucky and barreled for the crest like a stable horse heading home. At one point I had some concerns about my dear husband when he surmised that the crest would be at the level of a "knight-shaped pinnacle" now in view to the west and slightly above. There was no pinnacle shaped like any chess piece as far as I could tell. Was this a sign of altitude sickness? Or just his normal fantasy-world dementia?

Robert-
Some people are just blessed with a greater vision than others:-) We made it to Trail Crest and took in the view of the other side. The sight of Mt. Hitchcock, Hitchcock Lakes, aptly named Guitar Lake, and way down the valley, timber line were refreshing and encouraged us of how close we were. There also were no big cloud surprises, things were looking good. We threaded our way through the windows gasping down at the horrific exposure with morbid intrigue. No doubt about it, we were in low gear, making our way across rocks, down steps. The anticipation grew as we passed the Keeler Needles At this point the trail fades briefly in the rocks. The key here is not to look for the trail, but look for the ducks otherwise you may be going cross-country for the rest of the way up as some were doing. At the risk of insulting those who know what a duck is, here is a quick lesson on ducks. Ducks do not fly. A duck (Fr. duc) is a pile of 3 (or more) stones atop each other to indicate a trail above timberline. Technically a cairn is a large pile of rocks indicating an endpoint, like a summit.

Mary-
After 8 hours on the trail we reached the summit!! I was so excited. We were on top. There was nothing but down all around. I was hopping this was not a dream, everything seemed so blurred with all of the emotions of the moment. Robert may have done harder climbs, but this was my El Cap.

The only exposed skin I had was my face, and that was cold in the biting wind. My numb cheeks felt strangely foreign as I wiped my runny nose. This was my time and I would relish the memories I had been striving for even if it meant a few snowflakes blowing in. We had lunch in the shelter of the hut. I think the biggest compliment was from someone who came up the face, doing the mountaineer’s route. He called what I did, a 22 mile day hike, burley and said I was an animal. It made me feel like I was in the big leagues. Thanks. I also had 3 formerly strangers sing "Happy Birthday" to me in the hut. Now that was different. Robert spent half of the hour we had on top taking pictures. I always get impatient but appreciate the results.

Robert-
I left the summit because parts of my wife were going numb, and we needed to get down. I wanted to soak in this experience, to return to it in my mind when life gets a little crazy and too complicated to understand. Being geographically separated was not an option in such a place. We headed down a little past noon, encouraging and empathetic towards those doing the death march up the mountain. We careened down the switchbacks headed to Trail Camp lusting after the thicker air below. After downing my dose of aspirin, I went to fetch some water.

Mary-
When I was sitting there by myself these 2 guys came by and totally tried to pick up on me. That may have surpassed the "burley" compliment from the top. What were these guys thinking?

Robert-
Having clued me in what went down, I quickly escorted Mary down the mountain away from those lascivious, unwashed masses.
The section of the trail below is rocky and perhaps the most technical part of the trail. It is here where a vivid memory was burned into my mind 21 years ago. I was a young, strong 21 year old culminating the John Muir Trail. On that summer afternoon many years ago as I hammered down that section like a big rig with its brakes on fire, I saw bodies sprawled across both sides of the trail. Sprawled out supine, turtle-like with packs still on, ashen faces beaten by the altitude which slowly and painfully drained their will to go on. Some were puking, some were gasping for breath. It was a virtual war zone seeing the carnage down that mountain. Pounding 11 miles down this is one thing, but coming up was sheer lunacy. I could never do that.

-Mary
The last part from, Mirror Lake and below, was very scenic. I am glad we could do this in the daylight so I can see what a lovely section we missed on the way up. Coming down the home stretch past the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek we were treated to a play of light shafts spearing through the holes in the clouds.
All of this gave me the confidence that when I encounter other challenges in life, I can surmount them as well. Define the issue, break it down into components, focus on the result, expect it to happen.

Robert-
At the end of the trail it hit me again of how proud I am to be married to a gal who has the courage to dream big, the faith to believe big, the resolve to bring it all into reality.
We got to the Portal store, bought necessary souvenirs, and thanked Doug for his help. We felt an endorphic buzz that comes with that kind of physical and mental effort. And the people we bumped in to on the way to grab some food seemed different, pale and leadened in contrast to our summit victory.
It was at the Pizza Factory while waiting for dinner that the events of that day 12 hours prior were slowly unfolding to us on the news channel. An airplane crashed. A fireball in Washington DC. Did he say NY city? Must have been a mistake, no 2 crashes, make that 3. Pennsylvania?? What is going on? America has been attacked??? World leaders talking...a somber weight slowly replaces the adrenaline high. The world was a changed place. May God grant goodness to those who practice peace and show love to their fellow man.

I was in the middle of a move due to a transfer to another duty station. I had spent some time that morning loading boxes in the back of my truck, then I logged onto the internet to check the news at my destination to see if it was going to be 105F or worse. When I went to CNN.com it was a seemingly frozen web-page saying that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. It seemed so impossible and crude that at first I thought someone had managed to hack CNN's site.

That illusion did not last.

I got on the phone to my unit; my transfer orders were revoked, I was recalled. A few hours later I was sitting behind a concrete barrier with a loaded M16 waiting to see what was going to happen next.

In the days that followed I learned that I would never again be able to speak to 2 of my friends.

I will not forget what happened, and I will not forgive those who did it. Muslim apologists can spew all the $h!t they care to: it wasn't Jews or Christians or Hindus or Buddhists who murdered 3000 of my countrymen, and it wasn't Jews or Christians or Hindus or Buddhists around the world who were celebrating mass murder in the streets.

I was on an elliptical trainer in the Thornton Recreation Center. I remember distinctly looking up at the monitor there in the cardio area and seeing smoke coming from Tower 2, then a few minutes latter I saw the second plane fly into Tower 1. I really did not expect this to be from terrorist until I saw that second plane fly into the building. That was a very confusing day.

joemurphy wrote:What's your story from 9/11/01? Where were you living, how did you spend your day, who were you around, what did you do?

I was at work at my local Wal-Mart and my first thought was why did our government fail to stop those planes from even getting that far off course, as anyone with a brain knows that if a plane is even one minute off the route they are supposed to be on an alarm/flag is up and action to correct it takes place emediately, then why didn't any action take place on that day of days? 'Cause good 'ol George Bush-Head wanted it to happen thats why! It gave him an excuse to do his dark deed! And why did our heroes(policemen, firemen, etc.) not get the respect of being heroes before 9/11? And where was all the patriotism(flags flown proudly at homes,etc.) before 9/11? Anyone that used the 9/11 tragedy to suddenly see our policemen, firemen, etc. as heroes and to suddenly become patriotic are SUDO-PATRIOT's, WANNABEE's, they thrive on disaster to feed their egoes and call it patriotism.
I'm a proud American, but way to many American's don't even know what being an American is and they sicken me more than terrorists do 'cause they do more damage to America they any other country could ever do!

Oh and if anyone thinks that 9/11 was the worst tragedy to ever happen on American soil, then I sugest you bone up on just how badly our soldiers returning from Vietnam were treated by their own country, that was more of a tragedy than 9/11 could ever be!

I was at home, still in bed when my sister-in-law called and said to turn the news on. That's never a good sign. This was after tower 1 had been hit but before 2. I thought at first it was just a terrible accident but being a pilot couldn't comprehend how an airline pilot could have made such a mistake. Then, while watching the news, we saw the video of the second plane hitting the tower. That's when I knew it was deliberate and terrorism.

An hour later when the first of the two towers fell, my heart sank and I said some prayers for the people lost and their families left behind.

I had resigned from my job a few days earlier and was taking a few days off before starting my new job.
Early that morning my wife woke me up before she headed to her job and told me emphatically that she didn't want me to leave the house because she had a nightmare that a bus fell out of the sky and hit a group of people. I believe I mumbled something like "yeah, sure... I'm not going anywhere." I went back to sleep.
Two hours later the phone rang... it was my wife telling me to turn on the T.V.

I spent the next 8 hours glued to the set and screaming curses at the cowards who attacked our civilians.

I still remember how numb I felt, how hard it was to even eat, drink or sleep. Needless to say, the new job I had lined up went away, and I spent the next 2 months trying to get work.

I am what I am - Popeye the SailorI don't care what you do, I wouldn't want to be like you - Alan Parson's Project

I had just gotten to work at 6:45AM MT. I was working for Airborne Express (now DHL) as a driver and a few minutes after I arrived, one of my coworkers came up and said a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. At first, just like most everyone else, I thought it was a really bad accident (plane lost mechanical power, etc). But then I heard a second one hit the other tower and all I thought was "oh sh*t we're going to war now". Then the Pentagon was hit and then another plane went down in the field and from that point I knew things would not be the same ever again.

I could barely do my deliveries that day. I would go to houses and people were crying, I nearly lost it a few times myself, some of my business customers decided to close early that day because they couldn't concentrate either and get their work done.

Because the airports were closed, all logistics were halted. We only worked half days for about a week after that delivering local stuff only (sent locally to a local address).

I'm not going to get into the politics of everything, because politics suck, but we should have gotten this thing resolved a long, long time ago and killed all of the "peaceful" muslims that were behind this.

I was getting ready for school, but I ended up ditching class because I had also just finished Basic Training in Fort Benning and was "deployable" as far as my unit was concerned.
I lived in central Virginia at the time and after the news about the Pentagon came out, there was word that some of our unit's medics would be headed there by the end of the day.
I was a little anxious about possible activation, but that wouldn't happen until the next year for my battalion.